The latest news, reviews, thoughts, and humor for professional (and aspiring) moving image Colorists and Finishers. |
Editor's Note: NAB attendees... if you want to get news out to other color graders, here's the hashtag: #colorgraders If you've found something for inclusion in this newsletter use this hashtag and I'll pick it up: #nabTao
On The Tao
- [Podcast] Part 1: Warren Eagles, Colorist - "The Best Job In The World" (TaoOfColor.com)
- [Podcast] Part 2: Warren Eagles, Colorist - "What Makes a Great Colorist?" (TaoOfColor.com)
- The Painter, The Colorist, & The 80-Year-Old Book - Words that reminds me why I do what I do. (TaoOfColor.com)
- NAB Starts Early: Baselight is Final Cut's Newest Plug-In! (TaoOfColor.com)
Tools We Use
- FREE Aspect Ratio Calculator for iPhone and iPad - Includes Pixel Dimensions for each Aspect Ratio. Has handy email function to send to your clients who keep asking these questions. (DigitalRebellion.com)
- PhotoCopy: A Video Review - A while back I posted about a new "Looks" filter by Digital Film Tools. It's designed to mash specific popular film titles with paintings, photographs, and photographic processes. You can watch it in action in this Video review. (fcp.co)
- Guide to Prepping Sequences for Color - "Round-tripping" between FCP and Color has gotten much easier in recent years. But - as they say - Easy is a relative term. Don't believe me? Download the PDF created by Colorist Craig Mieritz to help his clients prep for a Color gig. Will FCP 8 fix this? In 72 hours we might have a good idea. (CMieritz.blogspot.com)
- New: Pro Media Tools - A Swiss Army Knife of little helpful apps for working with Quicktime files and with FCP. (DigitalRebellion.com)
- DSLR Filmmaking: It's Past and It's Future - An interview with Philip Bloom. (FilmmakerIQ.com)
- Cool Tools For Spring - Oliver Peters does a nice roundup of some new tools you might want to pick up. (DigitalFilms.wordpress.com)
Supply & Demand
- Supply Roundup - Notes On Video has a recent roundup of supply problems resulting from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. (NotesOnVideo.blogspot.com)
- Hard Drive Prices Will Rise Significantly (HardMac.com)
The Art of Color - This is the classic Johannes Itten book. He explores how we perceive color and how color affects us. He examines the balance that our minds try to find - and the how a talented artist can use this to create strong tensions through imbalance.
I'm never sure how much I can put into practice the theory in a book like this. But I know one thing for sure:
It's beautiful. It's perfect for clients to page through. Or if you're looking for ideas... or you just need something else to look at for a while, this book can't be beat. It was out of print for many decades, simply because it was too expensive to reproduce properly. A classic.
Amazon.com: The Art of Color: The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Color
Tao Rating: Thought Provoking
The Craft
- Creative Use of Black & White Using Blend Modes - This is a Photoshop tutorial but is relevant for any app that has blend modes (and, in my opinion no grading app should be without Blend Modes...). (TipsSquirrel.com via @rhedpixel)
- Aspirational Market and NLEs - Walter Murch, Kevin Smith... NLE makers sure do love wrapping themselves around the cloak of established filmmakers. Oliver Peters takes an in-depth look at this marketing practice for our industry. (DigitalFilms.wordpress.com)
- Taxi Driver: What A Difference A Grade Makes - This BluRay review of this 4k remastered film shows some great side-by-sides of the difference in the grading between a previous DVD release and this new release. (BluBrew.com)
- Color Grading Break-Down: NBC's Law & Order Promo - Author & Colorist Alexis Van Hurkman takes a close look at a TV promo and the styling choices they made when grading the spot. (VanHurkman.com)
It's Not Just About The LookI've noticed a bunch of interesting Sound stories recently. Why not spend a little time investigating the other side of our senses?
- Discrete Surround Loundness and Peak Detection in SoundtrackPro - A demo of Eyeheight's loundness plug-in for FCP and Soundtrack Pro (YouTube.com)
- Recording the Sound of a Gun - A video showing the comparison between various microphone types, positions and pre-amps that may be used for gun recording. (FilmmakerIQ.com)
For Friends and Family
- Your New TV Ruins Movies - A Stu Maschwitz rant. Pass it on... (ProLost.com)
The Business
- The Day the Movies Died - Sorry. I can't help myself with this long quote:
". . . let's look ahead to what's on the menu for this year: four adaptations of comic books. One prequel to an adaptation of a comic book. One sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a toy. One sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on an amusement-park ride. One prequel to a remake. Two sequels to cartoons. One sequel to a comedy. An adaptation of a children's book. An adaptation of a Saturday-morning cartoon. One sequel with a 4 in the title. Two sequels with a 5 in the title."
- Hi. My Name Is Rich... But You Can Call Me Jack - Is Jack-of-all-trades winning the race? Is 'good enough' good enough? (dcinema.wordpress.com)
- Studios Are Determined to Kill the Movie Business (TheWrap.com)
Current Colorist Control Surface Drivers
| JL Cooper Eclipse |
Euphonix MC Color |
Tangent Wave |
|
Software: v2.1.6 |
Mac: v2.5.7 |
Software: v3.8 |
|
Color Plug-in: v 1.0.5 |
PC: v2.5.7 |
Firmware: v1.9 |
|
Updated:
March 7 |
Updated: Feb. 18 |
Updated: Jan. 28(ish) |
Sunday Morning Fun(nies)
- Lovefield: A Short Film - Once you start watching, DO NOT abort. You MUST watch it to the end! (YouTube.com via @ericstm)
- Funny Fake TLC Promo - Early in my career I used to create these promos (for HBO). (kottke.org)
- iPhone Retro-Camera Simulator - Fun for the whole family! (16x9cinema.com)
- First Look: New 3D GoProHD - Freaking fantastic. And there's a great interview with the Founder of GoPro. It seems bizzare, the purchase of Cineform by GoPro. Until you realize the number of people who will be exposed to their technology is about to blast off exponentially - since this whole 3D rig is based on Cineform's platform. (BusinessInsider.com)
- A Racing Motorcycle... That Drives Itself (YouTube.com)
A Funny Thing Happened...
- Quatel's "Build Up Diary" for NAB 2011 - Blog entry of behind-the-scenes as they build their NAB booth. (blog.quantel.eu)
- Pre-NAB Panel - From the Editor's Lounge in L.A. Some interesting discussions. And a panelist under NDA with Apple is put 'on the spot'. The entire panel is broken into 4 parts. (vimeo.com)
Catch Me (Alexis) If You CanAlexis Van Hurkman is colleague who, over the past few years, has become a friend and sounding board. He is moving away this weekend. But first he's stopping at NAB for a few days. So here's my going-away gift to him...
If you're at NAB, take some time to catch Alexis (author of the excellent Color Correction Handbook, among many other titles). Here's his schedule:
- NAB Class - Tuesday, April 12th 10am-1pm; In Depth: Managing Color Throughout the Digital Facility. Sign up now.
- NAB Book Signing - Wednesday, April 13th 1-1:30pm at the NAB Official Book Store; Peachpit press has him sitting down for an author signing in support of "The Color Correction Handbook". Buy a book. Get it signed.
- NAB Blackmagic Booth - Alexis will also be at the Blackmagic booth (#SL220) Monday 3-5, Wed 10-12, and Thursday 10-12. It's a great time to find him, predictably, in one spot. Drop by, say hi, and tell him Patrick sent you!
The darn galoot. I'll miss him in NYC. Treat him well, St. Paul.
spice up your films advance your career
Be All That You Can Be
- The Future of Work is Play - This has some GREAT ideas for filmmakers and editors looking for ways to break out of a rut. (the99percent.com)
- F*ck You. Pay Me. - Business advice for creatives. A presentation given in San Francisco. Once you get past the attitude, lots of great advice. (vimeo.com via @craigtozzi)
- What Is Good Listening, Anyway? After two decades as an editor and colorist I've learned one thing... I need to listen if I'm going to move from working for the client to working with the client. Here are some good listening tips. (the99percent.com)
Gear Heads
- 17" MacBookPro w/ Thunderbolt and Adobe's Mercury Playback Engine - Video overview of the new AMD Radeon HD 6750 enabled MacBookPro (tv.adobe.com via @kev_mon)
- Vertex 3 SSD vs The Competition - For your MacBookPro. Cliff Notes Version: The Vertex screams. (bareFeats.com via @digitalreb)
- Kodak Discusses It's Laser Projection Technology - The juicy bits begin about mid-way through the interview. (CelluloidJunkie.com)
- Turnkey DaVinici Resolve System - From B&H. Include MacPro, Software, Video Card, Control Surface, GPUs (BHPhotoVideo.com)
Bait & Switch
- Check out this NEW Online Video Grader! - Okay. So it doesn't actually grade your images. It grades your videos. And... well... not grading as in color grading. Grading as in A - F. And it grades your use of videos on the web. (OnlineVideoGrader.com)
Last One Out, Turn Off The Lights
Too Little, Too Late?
A Step Too Far...
- Juicy Fruit, Serenading Unicorns, and A Beautiful Woman? Creepy, indeed. Trust me. You don't want to watch this. And you definitely DON'T want to call the kids in until you've watched it through. (YouTube.com) Remember, your actions are your own. I'm just your pusher.
One For the Road
- Freerunning: A New Sport - It would have been very wrong for me to leave you with that last viral video. Now this... THIS is freaking cool. I used to say I missed one thing from my childhood (Transformers toys). This video has now added a second. No serenading unicorns, I promise. (YouTube.com)
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